Nonstop flight route between Quoin Hill, Vanuatu and Atwater, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), Quoin Hill, Vanuatu and Castle Airport (MER), Atwater, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,460 miles (or 7,177 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Quoin Hill Airfield and Castle Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Quoin Hill Airfield and Castle Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ):

• With Japanese forces establishing bases on Guadalcanal which threatened the sea route between the U.S.
• The closest airport to Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ) is Wake Island Airfield (AWK), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) NW of UIQ.
• Investigations took place in the late 1980s as to whether Quoin Hill could be used as an alternate for Bauerfield International Airport, but this never came to fruition.
• On 25 March 1942, the Army sent about 500 men to Efate from Noumea, and the 4th Defense Battalion, 45th Marines, arrived on 8 April.
• The base was defended by the 198th Coast Artillery.
• The furthest airport from Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ) is RAF Ascension (ASI), which is located 11,749 miles (18,907 kilometers) away in Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena.

Facts about Castle Airport (MER):

• The furthest airport from Castle Airport (MER) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,312 miles (18,204 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The closest airport to Castle Airport (MER) is Merced Regional Airport (MCE), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SSE of MER.
• Castle Airport (MER) currently has only 1 runway.
• It serves one school, Sierra Academy of Aeronautics, which specializes in training foreign pilots, from the People's Republic of China.
• Because of Castle Airport's relatively low elevation of 191 feet, planes can take off or land at Castle Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• EPA investigations have been completed at multiple areas of contamination including landfills, discharge areas, chemical disposal areas, fire training areas, fuel spill areas, and polychlorinated biphenyl spill areas.